At the heart of the Fort Collins community are Colorado State University graduates who continue to make deep connections and hold a presence on and off of campus through their businesses. Here are just three of those shops and alumni who have worked to be valued parts of the city through the products and services they provide.

St. Peter’s Fly Shop 

Grant Houx worked as a fly fishing guide for St. Peter’s Fly Shop during the summer while Julia Houx was studying apparel merchandising at CSU. When St. Peter’s came up for sale, they decided to jump on the opportunity; the couple bought the shop in Old Town in 2007.

With their past experiences and passion in fly fishing, they continued to grow the business, building another location on the south side of Fort Collins. Grant Houx said he has valued seeing how the business has expanded in a variety of ways such as sharing fly fishing with younger generations and nurturing business and life skills in current and past CSU students.

“Over the years of having the shop, and this started with me, part of our business model is having college students or people who just graduated working here,” Grant Houx said in a 2021 interview with Owen Stephens. “If it was just about the dollar at the end of the day, we should probably get out of this business.”

Mugs Coffee Shop

During McCabe Callahan’s time in Italy in 2001, he became inspired to create an internet cafe in Fort Collins. Just before he finished up his degree at CSU, Callahan and a group of friends opened Mugs, the city’s first wireless internet cafe, in August of 2002.

McCabe Callahan met Marli Callahan in 2003, while he was slowly building the shop and she was still attending CSU. After focusing on the Mugs in Old Town for several years, parts of the community came together to open the location across from CSU. McCabe Callahan said he truly loved how the community stepped in and helped to build the Mugs community across Fort Collins.

“Every day I have the opportunity to give back to my community,” McCabe Callahan said. “I’ve heard enough stories from over two-plus decades of people that have just really found a home within my restaurants that it just feels like we’re offering something to community that has value.”

McCabe and Marli Callahan have continued to stay connected to CSU and Fort Collins by catering to on-campus presentations, panels and more. They said that they hope to continue leaning into those connections and building on those values in the future.

“We started with the idea of good people and great coffee, and that’s the ethos that’s carried through,” McCabe Callahan said. “As far as what people feel when they’re in Mugs, the people behind the counter are actually good people that care, and in (the) last 15 years it’s been (about) the community through coffee.”

Ivy Boutique 

During her time at CSU, Madeline DeGroot worked at a local apparel store, where she learned from the owner and realized she could see herself owning a business of her own someday. After graduating from CSU in 2018, she moved around until she landed back in Fort Collins; in June 2021, she opened Ivy Boutique.

“The only place I considered opening the boutique was in Fort Collins, just because it is so special and unique,” DeGroot said. “We have such a great small town feel, and … the community really rallies around to support local businesses.”

This past year, DeGroot was able to expand her location to the corner space neighboring Ivy Boutique, further building on her goal to appeal to a wide variety of customers. She said trying to have a little something for everybody has motivated her to continue to grow her business and connection with the city.

Over the years, she has remained connected to CSU, participating in Q&As with the design and merchandising department and hiring students at the boutique. She said she enjoys connecting with students, building those bonds and mentoring members of the community.

“In college, you’re just craving connection and direction, and you just don’t know what you’re doing a lot of the time,” DeGroot said. “To be able to have a mentor or somebody directly from in the industry and hear their story and their experience is great. There’s a lot of valuable lessons to be learned in being a part of a community, knowing people and making connections.”

DeGroot said she found it special to create a business and settle down her roots in Fort Collins. Although she said she has been asked about opening stores in different places, DeGroot said she truly wants to be in Fort Collins.

“Once you kind of get out into the world, you really start to realize what’s important and where you want to be,” DeGroot said. “It’s really special to be able to call this place home and continue to grow my business here. My heart isn’t anywhere else, it is really only here in Fort Collins, and the community responds to that. It means a lot to be here.”

Reach Sananda Chandy at life@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.